Mission

Shelter Music Boston presents classical chamber music concerts, of the highest artistic standards, in homeless shelters and other sheltering environments. Our goal is to promote community, creative interaction, respect, and therapeutic benefit. We believe all people deserve access to the dignity, creativity, and passion of classical music whether or not they have a home.

What We Do

By producing live classical music concerts in homeless shelters, SMB applies a truly innovative approach to performing classical music and bringing a sense of humanity to individuals living on the margins. Our program serves to enrich the lives of audience members individually as well as to improve the dynamics of interactions in the shelter. In 2017 alone, SMB served more than 1,500 people in nearly 70 concerts. These concerts are the work of highly skilled professional musicians who have performed in concert halls around the world. Teams of two to four musicians, trained in our interactive concert model, are employed to deliver a full-length chamber music concert to our partner shelters. These near monthly visits (10 concerts in each shelter each year) create a sense of community built on the relationships developed between shelter guests, shelter staff, and our musicians. The impact is not merely about the actual performance but about what happens between the shelter guests, the music, and the musicians.